The Philadelphia Handicap was an American

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

held thirty-eight times between 1913 and 1950 at

Havre de Grace Racetrack The Havre de Grace Racetrack was an American horse racing track on Post Road in Havre de Grace, Harford County, Maryland. Nicknamed "The Graw," it operated from August 24, 1912, to 1950. For a time, it was owned by the Harford Agricultural and B ...

Havre de Grace, Maryland Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which ...

. Run on dirt, the race was open to horses of either sex age three and older. From inception in 1913 through 1919, and again from 1947 through 1950, the event was contested at a sprint distance of six furlongs. In between, it was raced at a mile and a sixteenth.

Historical notes

First run on April 26, 1913, Ten Point easily won the inaugural edition of the Philadelphia Handicap while equaling the track record despite giving weight to the rest of the field. Ten Point went on the run second in the May 10

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

. In 1919 Commander

J. K. L. Ross Commander John Kenneth Leveson "Jack" Ross, CBE (31 March 1876 – 25 July 1951) was a Canadian businessman, sportsman, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, and philanthropist. He is best remembered for winning the first United States Triple ...

got the first of his three Philadelphia Handicap wins when Billy Kelly won for him. A

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

Billy Kelly's outstanding career would lead to induction into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. Five other horses would also have Hall of Fame careers beginning with Exterminator (1923) then

Sun Beau Sun Beau (1925 – c.1943) was an American Thoroughbred Champion Hall of Fame racehorse. Background Sun Beau was sired by Sun Briar. His damsire was Fair Play, who sired Man o' War. Racing career Racing as a two-year-old in 1927, Sun Beau d ...

(1931), two-time winner

Equipoise Equipoise may refer to: * Clinical equipoise, or the principle of equipoise, a medical research term * Equilibrioception, the state of being balanced or in equilibrium * Boldenone undecylenate, an anabolic steroid, by the trade name ''Equipoise'' * ...

(1933-1934),

Challedon Challedon (1936–1958) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Maryland by William L. Brann and Robert S. Castle, he raced under the colors of their Branncastle Farm. Two-year-old-season Racing at age two, Chall ...

(1942) and

Armed Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in ...

who broke the track record in winning the 1946 race. Billy Kelly returned to compete in the 1920 Philadelphia Handicap along with stablemate

Sir Barton Sir Barton (April 26, 1916 – October 30, 1937) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the first winner of the American Triple Crown. Background Sir Barton was a chestnut colt bred in 1916, in Kentucky, by John E. Madden at H ...

who had won the 1919 U. S. Triple Cown. The race would see an astonishing upset when 106-1 longshot Crystal Ford came home ahead of the nine other runners. Star Master finished second in front of the third and fourth place finishers Billy Kelly and Sir Barton who were giving the winner 32 and 26 pounds, respectively.

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

, a very good runner owned by Anne Corning, had already won a number of top races including the prestigious

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds acco ...

when he won the 1939 Philadelphia Handicap. Thanksgiving's trainer was Mary Hirsch, someone who had overcome many obstacles to become the first woman in the United States licensed to train Thoroughbred racehorses. Mary Hirsch was the only female trainer to win the Philadelphia Handicap and through 2019 remains the only female trainer to have won the Travers Stakes.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

saw racing restricted in the United States and Havre de Grace Racetrack was forced to cancel all of its spring races in 1943 which included the Philadelphia Handicap. In 1945 the Philadelphia Handicap was run at

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...

due to Federal government wartime gasoline rationing that saw all four of Maryland's major racetracks consolidate their races into the Pimlico facility. The following year the distance was changed to a six furlong sprint and was won by another Calumet horse, Pep Well, who was ridden by Albert Snider. Until his untimely death on March 5, 1948, Snider was the regular jockey for the great

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

and had won all nine races he was aboard. Snider was scheduled to ride in the May 1, 1948

but after his death

Eddie Arcaro George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997), was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Tripl ...

was hired to ride Citation and would win that year's Triple Crown. On April 19, 1950, The Pincher won what would turn out to be the last running of the Philadelphia Handicap as horse racing came to an end at the Havre de Grace Racetrack at the close of that 1950 spring meeting.

Records

Speed record: * 1:10 2/5 @ 6 furlongs: Pep Well (1947) * 1:43 1/5 @ 1 1/16 miles

(1946) Most wins: * 2 -

Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

(1921, 1922) * 2 -

(1933, 1934) * 2 - Pep Well (1947, 1949) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 3 -

Maurice Peters Maurice Wilbur "Moose" Peters (May 14, 1917 – April 6, 1987) was a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who accomplished the remarkable feat of winning a national riding title while still a seventeen-year-old apprentice. In 1938, Peters rode ...

(1936, 1939, 1940) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 - Henry McDaniel (1921, 1922, 1923) Most wins by an owner: * 3 -

(1919, 1921, 1922) * 3 - Calumet Farm (1946, 1947, 1949)

Winners

References

{{reflist Discontinued horse races Havre de Grace Racetrack Horse races in Maryland Recurring sporting events established in 1913 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1951 Havre de Grace, Maryland